The Woman Who Would be King
Hatshepsut's Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt
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- 7,99 €
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- 7,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
Hatshepsut, the daughter of a general who had usurped the throne of Egypt, was born into a privileged position within the royal household. Married off to her own brother, she was expected to bear sons who would legitimize the reign of her father’s family. But she failed to produce a male heir. Such was the twist of fate that paved the way for her own scarcely believable rule: she ascended to the throne as a ‘king’. Over a spectacular twenty-two-year reign, Hatshepsut proved herself a master strategist, cloaking her political power plays with a veil of piety and sexual reinvention. Just as women today face obstacles from a society that equates authority with masculinity, Hatshepsut had to operate the levers of a patriarchal system to emerge as Egypt’s second female pharaoh.
Scholars have long speculated as to why her images were violently destroyed within a few decades of her death, all but erasing evidence of her rule. Constructing a rich narrative history using the sources that remain, noted Egyptologist Kara Cooney offers a remarkable interpretation of how Hatshepsut rapidly but methodically consolidated power—and why she fell from public favour just as quickly. The Woman Who Would Be King traces the unconventional life of a female pharaoh and explores our complicated reactions to women in power.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The life of Hatshepsut, Egypt's second female pharaoh, was replete with opulent living, complex royal bloodlines, and sexual energy; in short, the kind of drama that fuels Ancient Egypt's enduring appeal. What it lacked, however, was comprehensive documentation something UCLA Egyptologist Cooney offers in a narrative biography supplemented by scholarly hypotheses that attempt to flesh out the uncertainties. Groomed for an important role as a high priestess from birth, Hatshepsut, through a combination of good fortune and ruthless strategy, "scaled the mountain to kingship." Her role ostensibly "decreed by nothing less than a divine revelation" is shrouded in mystery by a limited historical record concerned too frequently with the "supernatural mechanisms of divine authority." The high points; of this ambitious project are to be found in Cooney's keen sense for the visual elements of Hatshepsut's gender-defying rule and expert inferences on the psychologies of Hatshepsut and her contemporaries. From Hatshepsut's self-perception, political prowess, and lifestyle emerge an image of the "ultimate working mother" and a compelling insight into ancient gender roles. However, Cooney's work will likely appeal most to already well-informed armchair Egyptologists, as unfamiliar nomenclature and the speculative tone can make this a difficult text for the casual reader.
